ADAM MORRISON CHOSEN NEW FACE OF EA’S NCAA MARCH MADNESS 07
No. 1 Selling College Basketball Game* Will Debut on Xbox 360
and a Demo will be Available to Download Beginning Nov. 14 from Xbox Marketplace
REDWOOD CITY, Calif. – October 30, 2006 – Electronic Arts (Nasdaq: ERTS) announced today that Adam Morrison, who led the NCAA® in Division I men’s basketball scoring last year and was the third overall draft pick of the Charlotte Bobcats in the NBA, has been selected the new face of NCAA® March Madness ® 07, scheduled for release January 16, 2007 under the EA SPORTS™ brand.
NCAA March Madness 07 debuts on the Xbox 360™ video game and entertainment system by delivering a strategic basketball gameplay experience and next generation feature set that captures the intensity and atmosphere that characterizes college basketball. Never before have home court and the home crowd meant more as your players either rise to the occasion or wilt under the pressure of charged-up, authentic college courts. Feel the intensity rise, then watch as each player responds differently, trying to maintain composure. As the atmosphere heats up your player composure ratings affect the all-new Intensity Control that changes momentum by allowing you to pump up the crowd, motivate your teammates, raise your own composure or even intimidate your opponent. Plus, become immersed like never before by interacting with student sections, school mascots, cheerleaders, and even the band.
“I have always felt that a raucous crowd behind you like those at Gonzaga University gave the team an extra boost. I fed off the emotion of the home crowd and replicating this atmosphere in NCAA March Madness 07 is being true to college basketball fans,” said Morrison.
Fans will have the opportunity to experience the all-new interactive environments by downloading an NCAA March Madness 07 demo from Xbox Marketplace on November 14 prior to the EA SPORTS Maui Invitational, the unofficial start to the college basketball season. This demo will feature the defending NCAA Division I champion and the top 2 ranked teams in the game, the No. 1 Florida Gators against the No. 2 Kansas Jayhawks.
Morrison, 22, led the NCAA® Division I in scoring as a junior forward last season with Gonzaga, averaging 28.1 points per game and setting a school record with 926 points. He was a finalist for the Wooden and Naismith Player of the Year awards. Morrison is the third straight Bobcat to be featured on the cover of an NCAA March Madness video game, joining current teammates Raymond Felton (2006) and Emeka Okafor (2005) as EA SPORTS cover athletes on the No. 1 selling college basketball videogame*.
Beyond the atmosphere, NCAA March Madness 07 delivers an authentic college basketball gameplay experience by offering custom playbooks for each team through the Floor General Playcalling system, the EA SPORTS Lockdown Stick that allows your players to pressure the ball, force turnovers and harass opponents on the court, and an enhanced Dynasty Mode™ with new School Pride and Recruiting features that let you build your school into a national powerhouse. In addition, the popular voices of college basketball are back with ESPN’s Dick Vitale and Brad Nessler calling the action courtside.
“There’s no place like home in college basketball. A loud and boisterous home crowd is a big advantage and fuels the momentum of a game, especially when it smells a comeback,” said ESPN’s Dick Vitale, one of the voices of NCAA March Madness 07. “I hear it all the time from freshmen Diaper Dandies. They don’t think the crowd is going to affect them but when you walk into some of these arenas and hear the fans for the first time, it can be unnerving.”
With the most advanced ESPN integration package available in NCAA March Madness 07, fans connected online via Xbox LIVE® will be able to watch college basketball game highlights, segments from Pardon the Interruption and Around the Horn, interviews and analysis from SportsCenter, and more. Fans will also be able to download and listen to ESPN radio podcasts as they play NCAA March Madness 07, including segments from Dan Patrick, Mike & Mike, Stephen A. Smith and others. All this is in addition to live ESPN Radio SportsCenter updates every 20 minutes, the ESPN Ticker and ESPNews.
NCAA March Madness 07 is in development at EA Canada in Vancouver, B.C., and will be available on the Xbox 360 and the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system. The game is not yet rated by the ESRB. Images of NCAA March Madness 07 box art can be found at http://info.ea.com.
